Sophie Gralton

“This is not a still “

The focus of Sydney-based Sophie Gralton’s art lies in the quality of interaction between medium and meaning. For her, what matters most is not visual accuracy but the relationship between image and ground and the seduction of visual surfaces. It is a misconception to think of Gralton’s work as primarily a nostalgic reflection on bygone times. On the contrary, she eschews any notion of sentimentality.The inspiration for her work arose when visiting an exhibition of Dutch 17th century portraits of children in Paris in 2007. Gralton is a painter known for her signature imagery of contemporary child portraiture. In the series 

“This is not a still life”, Sophie moves away from here traditional portraiture and concentrates on the still life with the pets she calls photo bombers given pride of place, dogs have always been associated with loyalty and added to the beauty of the foreground of the thickly painted still lives, she plays on the notion of these are not merely still lives.